A degree of calm came with the grey of dawn although the overcast sky managed to keep a dampener on the day. Before leaving the camp area we took a walk down and along some of the beach but with the sea still quite rough and the large swells breaking on the reef that was close to shore, the feeling that this was indeed the southern coast was totally reinforced. We left the camp shortly after and with a gentle tail wind headed to the town of Denmark passing numerous touristy stops along the way including Honey, Swiss Chocolate, Ice Cream, Toffee, Cheese, Wine and Ales and for some reason numerous Mazes, the first of which we saw near Augusta. Ignoring all these potential delights we arrived in the lovely little town of Denmark at about the time our coffee in the Beast ran out.
As usual we took in whatever the information centre had on hand and it seemed that due to all the culinary distractions on the way into town we had missed the turnoff to the more important scenic diversions of Greens Pool and Elephant Rocks. Doh!!! Ok, after a quick review of our priorities we dumped the van off in front of the fire station and then took ourselves off back in the direction of all the good stuff we had missed.
First stop was the Swiss Chocolate factory and then out to the coast to Greens Pool and Elephant Rocks. Excellent coastline with just enough sun breaking through to highlight the waves breaking over the very large and very unusual smooth round rocks that make up this portion of the coastline. On information centre advice we then headed back to Denmark via a backroad stopping at a cheese factory (that also sold fudge and wine) on the way. All good stuff with some very picturesque scenery along the way, especially where the very green farmland met with the quite substantial forest areas that have managed to survive.
Lunch was back at Denmark and from there we headed south east to Albany, a short 53km away where we checked into the Rose Garden Caravan Park, the manager of which just happened to be a Kiwi doing the work in Oz thing for a while. A point of real interest to us was that Ross’s parents actually stayed in Albany on the same date 34 years ago, especially freaky in that the calendars are in sync which means we were there on the same day as well, ie Monday 24th of May. It was by pure chance that this came about but as recognition of the fact we have included a snippet of their handwritten journal of the day as follows:
Doreen wrote:""
Date: 24/5/76 Monday
Place: Albany
Weather: Good
Comment: “Exploration of the area” day. This meant a drive down to see The Gap, Blowholes and the Whaling Station. This year they have already put through over 1000 whales and they catch them fairly near the coast. Men were working on chopping one up – what a huge ‘steak’ they got off using a motorized saw – and the smell !! Nearly made even me ill!
""
For us however Monday was just spent settling into the caravan park and sorting out what we wanted to accomplish while there as Albany is the largest of the towns we will pass through before we get back to South Australia. With the weather improving we spent time on Tuesday getting parts and fixing the water tank and a couple of blown bulbs on the van but we did manage a walk around the Emu Point area of Albany – very nice coastline and fishing port with a most confusing jetty seemingly only accessible to the seagulls and pelicans that abound. Being bandicoot country we manage to see one – ok it was just a sign but we are still hoping… We also fussed with testing the van battery as we had an unexpected lights out situation during our Parrys beach stop – most disconcerting as we thought our battery problems were behind us.
Wednesday was more time fussing with the battery and some necessary shopping and then our “exploration of the area” day spent retracing the steps of Ross’s Mum and Dad out to The Gap, Natural Bridge, Blowholes and the Whaling Station (now a museum). An excellent drive out and around the Princess Royal Harbour on which Albany is situated to the very rugged south coast which some 45 million years ago (give or take a few) was connected to the landmass which is now known as Antarctica. Huge rock cliffs and rugged coastline with the very clear and blue southern ocean pounding up against it.
We both liked Albany very much. The interesting old town centre runs down to the water front which although industrial in parts it is also going through a major revamp to make it more people friendly. The very sheltered habours and beaches and surrounding hills make for a very pleasant place indeed.
